Prices in the local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) market have came under pressure, decreasing by INR 1,000/mt during the past week to INR 50,000/mt ($771/mt) ex-works, in reaction to buyers' resistance in the form of a fall in fresh bookings and expectations of the tight supply situation easing over the next few weeks, traders said on Tuesday, April 3.
“Clearly with local Indian CRC prices moving to a high of INR 51,000/mt ex-works, market intermediaries lost appetite for fresh bookings and have sharply reduced activity, triggering a correction in prices,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
According to two other traders, the tight supply in the market over the past one month which contributed largely to the price rally is expected to ease over the coming months, with one of the CRC mills of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) which had been shut down resuming operations this month.
However, other market participants maintain that price signals for the current month are still unclear and state that the softening of CRC prices may be short-lived. They said that there are no indications yet on whether domestic steel mills will revise April base prices and any hike would offset the downward pressure on prices from the easing of the tightness of supply.
$1 = INR 65